The Burrill Report

Life sciences companies across the globe raised a total of $82.4 billion in public financings during 2011, up from $65 billion in 2010 (see year-end scorecard). Debt financings dominated fundraising both years and accounted for the overall fundraising growth in 2011. Global life sciences public equity financings (IPOs, PIPEs, and follow-ons) totaled just $16 billion, a 7.9 percent increase over the $14.8 billion raised in 2010, thanks largely to follow-on financings in China.

In the United States, public equity financings in 2011 totaled $5.7 billion, down 17.5 percent from the $6.9 billion a year ago. Fundraising slowed considerably in the United States in the second half of the year as markets swung wildly in the face of the European debt crisis and the fights in the United States over the raising of the debt ceiling, the Standard and Poors’ downgrade of U.S. credit, and the inability to reach agreement in Congress on how to trim the budget.

A total of 16 life sciences companies managed to go public in the United States in 2011. Together, they raised $1.4 billion. That compares to 20 IPOs in 2010 that raised a total of nearly $1.4 billion. As a group, the life sciences IPOs of 2011 fell 29 percent from their initial offering prices as of the close of the year. Getting the deals done was not easy. Ten of these companies went public below their target prices and, as a group, these companies sold nearly 28 percent more shares than they had set out to sell while raising about 13 percent less than they had hoped.

The nearly $9.9 billion invested in the sector through venture capital reflected an 8.7 percent increase over last year. But there are growing concerns about the future role traditional venture investors will play in funding biotech. Several life sciences venture capital firms in 2011 announced plans to reduce investment in the sector or exit it completely. That reflects both frustration with regulatory barriers and the weak market for initial public offerings that has made it difficult for venture investors to capture returns on their investments.

Financing by Category in 2011

















Source: The Burrill Report

December 30, 2011
http://www.burrillreport.com/article-fundraising_in_2011.html